Thursday, 25 April 2013

I must thank Sarah Lovett for this little gem; as many people may have seen, she sent a comment on the Tappy barrow in Berwick Street; she has an old Tappy barrow for sale.
The dimensions of, and information for, the barrow cart she has are:

Overall length: 9' 11"
Width : 46"
Height: 7' 6 1/4 "

It has 270º steering.

She also said about the Pathe News clip from 1967 which really is very informative; the barrow maker in the clip is Terry O'Doherty who had workshops both at Covent Garden and Hertfordshire. The clips show the hand barrows being made by his assistants and the makers name being very nimbly carved "with pen-like flourish".
It seems the barrows were made of Ash, a hardwood, known for its elasticity and resilience; I'm assuming that the Tappy barrows would have been made in the same way using the same techniques and wood type.
From the information given in the film, it took about a fortnight to
make a hand barrow; I wonder how long it took to make a wagon barrow?

The video in the link below was slightly temperamental in starting, this may be due to my computer.

Thursday, 18 April 2013

I have long wondered how many people actually follow my blog rather than just view it; with this in mind, I am considering putting a 'followers' widgit on the blog which would automatically show the numbers but which also may show the actual names of people themselves.
My last wish is to drive people away from this blog, so it is with this in mind that I have set up a poll, which will be available till the 28th April, so that I can see what your views would be either pro, con or neutral.
You can also email me at newcutmarketresearch@yahoo.co.uk and let me know what you think. I will then judge from the replies the best course of action.

Sunday, 7 April 2013

This shop is one of the last
original businesses that have survived in the area and one that has been in continuous trade for 143 years; located at 31
Lower Marsh, it sells high quality fashionable male clothing such as hats,
jackets, shirts, jeans and trousers etc. Unfortunately it is a shadow
of its former size:

Trussons in 2012

It was established in 1866, and by
1880 as this advertisement from the British Library record shows, it had premises at 102, 103 and 104
Lower Marsh (which was on the opposite side of the road from where the present shop is situated), plus a shop at 413 Brixton Road – then, a very Middle
Class and fashionable part of South London. From what I understand from the proprietor, the original premises across the road were severely damaged during WWII, shortly afterward, the present shop was opened and has been there ever since.

I am interested in anybody who has
information about the history of Trussons; maybe you have had a relative
who worked in the shops either at Lower Marsh or the Brixton Road
premises? I have spoken to the proprietor of the modern business and
unfortunately he has very little information about the company before
the second world war.

Saturday, 6 April 2013

Due to the outbreaks of Cholera in the
early to mid-nineteenth century, a committee was formed in 1844 for
promoting the establishment of baths and wash-houses for the
labouring classes, one member of the committee being the Bishop of
London; the bishop petitioned for a bill and in 1846 'The Public
Baths and Wash-Houses Act' was passed, giving powers to local
authorities to fund the construction of public baths and
wash-houses.

It seemed that for whatever reason, the
Lambeth Vestry had declined to carry out the construction of baths
for this new Act and in 1853 a private company 'The Lambeth Baths and Wash-Houses
Company Limited' funded the construction of the Lambeth Baths which were designed by Arthur Ashpitel and John Whichcord Jr and the baths drew their water from the newly constructed works by the Thames Water Company at Thames Ditton, Surrey.

The baths were located behind what is
now the Waterloo Health Centre, and although it was behind the main street frontages, it stretched virtually the entire
length from the Lower Marsh to Baylis Road (which was then called
Oakley Street); it incorporated swimming baths and also 'slipper
baths' and a wash -house.

It seems there were three entrances
from the map, one in the Lower Marsh, one in Westminster Bridge Road
(Which could have been the main entrance judging by the address that
is given for it) and the other in Charles Street, which ran off of
Oakley Street. The entrance to the washhouse
having a separate entrance for 'washing women' with an adjacent house for
the care of children (it may have been that the entrance in Charles
Street was the wash-house entrance, as it in a side street, off the main road).

The baths were certainly operational by
1861 and were well used by locals apparently. Initially the two swimming
baths (women were not allowed in the pools) were open in the summer months and costs were 6d for first
class and 3d for second class.

The baths were also used in 1879 for
the 'Trials of Endurance', a swimming marathon which lasted 145 hours
over 6 days. The winner, Matthew Webb, had already won an accolade of
being the first person to swim the Channel in 1875.

During the winter months, the baths were converted for other uses: from 1861, they were used for
indoor running; in 1868, they were used to hold the South London
Industrial Exhibition, which was attended by the Prince of Wales and
Baron Brunnow; and also the Surrey Cricket team used the converted baths
as a practice area, plus they were used many times for a public
meeting hall.

The baths were still operational in
1902 but shortly after that time they closed; registers in the
London Gazette for 1908 record the winding up of the company and the
appointment of Thomas Mitchell, the Secretary, as Liquidator.
Certainly by 1914, any trace of the baths had been removed; the old
Ordinance Survey maps of that year shows the area covered by he baths
to be split into sections of large premises.

Little is known as to why the
baths closed, it may have been due to the construction of new baths
on the corner of Lambeth Road and Kennington Road which would have
been paid for by the LCC.